Well head insert



March 17, 1936. J. H HOWARD AL 2,034,101

WELL HEAD INSERT Filed Dec. 16, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l amnion JAMEa H. How/m0 YEAGER L.|"|ARK|NS.

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March 17, 1936. J, H, HOWARD EIAL 2,03 ,1 1

r WELL HEAD INSERT Filed Dec. 16, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 mentoc I How/mo ER LMARKINa Patented Mar. 17, 193

UNETE s1" WELL HEAD INSERT James H. Howard and Yeager L. Mai-kins, Houston, Tex., assignors to J. H. McEvoy 8; Company, a corporation 7 Application December 16, 1931, Serial No. 581,302

27 Claims.

The invention relates to an improvement in well head equipment wherein a combination .blowout preventer and pipe support is adapted for insertion in the wellhead, either for emergency use or for use in connection with the usual operations inand about the well.

It is one of the objects of the invention to provide an insert for the wellhead which is adapted to seal the area between the casing and a pipe which may be positioned therein.

Another object of the invention is to provide an insert which is adapted to be quickly moved into position by mechanical means so that injury to the operator will be avoided.

. Another object of the invention is to provide a blowout preventer which is adapted to be moved both laterally and vertically by mechanical means so that it will clamp about a pipe positioned in the well casing.

- Another object of the invention is to provide insert such that the insert may be moved to 30 operative or inoperative position by the mechanical means.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a resilient pressure connection for a packing assembly so that the same .will move to closed U5 position when it engages the pipe about which it is to be positioned.

Other and further objects of the invention will be readily apparent when the following description is considered in connection with the accom- 40 panying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a well head equipped with the invention, and showing the casing head broken away to illustrate the internal construction thereof. 45 Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 shows a modified form of the invention with thedevice in an inoperative position.

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view of the invention 50 of Fig. 3 with the packing assembly inserted in the well casing.

Fig. 1 shows a casing indicated generally at 2 which is preferably the surface casing which is anchored to the earth and which forms a part 55 \of all well equipment. Positioned on this casing I a collar 38 positioned on the rod 3|.

2 is a casing head 3 which is provided with the outlets 4 and 5. The upper-portion of this 'casing head is tapered to form a bowl 6 which is arranged to receive the blowout preventer or support for the blowout preventer mechanism.. 10

It-is contemplated that this ring 8 may be flanged to the casing head if a flanged connection provided on the casing'head.

The ring 8 carries a table or supporting plate II which extends laterally from the axial plane 15 of the casing head. This table has 'mounted thereon a standard l2 which carries a bearing I3 to receive the transverse shaft [4. The shaft 14 is mounted for movement in the bearing l3.

The shaft l4 serves as a support for a rack I5 and a pinion l6 which serves as a mechanism for moving the blowout preventer I. The rearward movement of the rack I5 is limited by the stop rod l8 which is pivoted to the table II at I9 and passes through the opening 20. in a on the shaft M. The pinion I6 is mounted to 5 rotate on top of the housing 25 and a hand wheel 26 isprovided to rotate this pinion. It

is understood that rotation of the pinion causes longitudinal movement of the rack l5 to cause a similar movement of the blowout preventer I. 40 The housing 25 is pivoted so that the blowout preventer may be closed to engage the seat 5 in the casing head, Fig. 4 showing the invention inoperative position.

The blowout preventer I is seen in open position in Fig. 2 and comprises a plurality of segments 30 which are mounted upon a supporting rod 3|. This rod is connected to the segments 30 by a yoke- 32, the ends of which pass loosely through an eye 33 which is carried by each of the 7 segments 30. The rod 3| is slidably mounted in a recess 35 in the end 35 of the rack member l5. A coil spring 31, however, is provided to support against the end of the rack member and against In this.

manner the rod 3| is capable of limited slidin movement independently of the rack member i5, so that there will be no injury to the segments 30 if excessive pressure is applied to the rack mem ber I5 after the blowout preventer has been se'ated because if the rackmoves beyond its normal position such movement will be absorbed by the rod 3| telescoping into the recess 35, and thereby compressing the spring 3'5. It should also be noted that the eyelets 33 are positioned on each side of the point of pivoting of the segments 30 so that when the blowout preventer, as seen in Fig. 2, moves forwardly to engage the pipe, the points 40 thereof will be the first to engage the pipe at a point such as 4|. Obviously, when this heel or comer 40 engages the pipe the forward movement of the rod 3| will be practically terminated. Due to the positioning of the eyelets 33 however, continued movement of the rack member I5 causes a pressure to be exerted by the spring 31 upon the rod 3| and accordingly upon the yoke 32 inasmuch as the eyelets 33 are positioned on each side of the point-of contact with the pipe. It is apparent that any further pressure tends to move tips 42 of the segments 30 toward each other so that the blowout preventer will clamp around the pipe.

In addition to the rod 3| the links 45, are provided which connect with the plates 46 mounted on each of the segments 30. These links 45 are also connected to a bracket 41 carried by the head of the rack member I5 and are each'arrangedfor swinging movement in this bracket 41 by being passed thru an opening 48 which is somewhat larger than the size of the link. The links are also mounted'to swing with respect to the plates 46 by passing loosely through the eye blocks 49. These links 45 tend to create a pull or a push on the blowout preventer upon movement of the rack member so that the blowout preventer will be moved easily to operative or inoperative position.

. The pivotal connection of the links with the blowout preventer and with the rack member permits the opening and closing of the blowout preventer, and due to the fact that the spring 31 normally urges the yoke or head 32 forwardly causes the eyelets 49 to move to extended positioa so that the blowout preventer will normally remain in the position shown in Fig. 2. Thus the preventer is, normally open and ready to be moved about the pipe. To accomplish this movement it is only necessary to rotate the hand wheel 26 to move the rack I5 and slide the blowout preventer over to a position to engage about. the P D The pipe. in the well is indicated at 5|! and is provided with the usual coupling 5|. Whenit is desired to retain the blowout preventer in the well-head by the weight of the string of pipe 50,

. the preventer can be moved forwardly until the lower end thereof moves into the casing head opening whereupon the entire mechanism will pivot about the shaft I4 so that the blowout preventer will drop into the bowl Ii as seenin Fig. 4.. The string of pipe may then be lowered so that the coupling 5| will seaton top of the segments 30 and expand the, packer so that's seal will be obtained between the casing head and the pipe.

If it is desired to retain the blowout preventer in sealing position without positioning the coupling 5| thereon or utilizing the weight of the string of tubing, a series ,of dogs or locking seg ments 52 have been provided in a groove 53 in the top of the blowout preventer. These dogs are movable radially of the blowout preventer and are arranged to engage with the teeth or projetcions, 54 formed on the inside of the support ring 8. The arrangement of dogs in a blowout preventer or packing head is shown in the patent 5 to J. H. McEvoy, 1,867,321, granted July 12, 1932. a When the blowout preventeris to be removed from the seat 5, itwill be accomplished by, first, retracting the teeth 52 with a suitable wrench from the complementary ratchet teeth" of 54, then raising the pipe until the next collar below 5| on the string comes in contact with the bottom of the blowout preventer and raises it out an? the bowl. With the blowout preventer iz'esting on the collar and out of the casing head, it 15 may be drawn back to inoperative position as shown in Fig. l, by turning the handwheel 25 reverse to the operation of putting it in.

-When the rack I5 is moved back to the position shown in Fig. l, the eye 2| comes in contact with nut 22, and any further backward movement of rack I5 causes the apparatus to pivot about shaft I4. This pivoting causes the blowout pre- 7 venter to be lifted from contact with plate II. This lifting-action is advantageous because it allows the'blowout preventer to hang vertically, which is the proper position for having it ready to be placed around the pipe. The apparatus, Figs. 1 and 2, has been made and tested, and has been found to work perfectly in whatever position the pipe might be in. The apparatus will not clamp around a collar, nor can it be made .to jam in an ineifective manner by the collar. Also if the operator is' careless in pulling the blowout preventer out of the head, he cannot damage it by pulling it too high. With the construction shown, after the insert has been raised up a distance, it will slide off of the shoulder of the collar and drop down, and then by turning the handwheel it can be drawn back to operative position. v f

It has been found necessary to have loose joints to make operation possible in any position of the pipe. Taper on the lower end of blowout preventer is a necessary featurefor centralizing the pipe as the blowout preventer is forced into the I head. It is to be understood that the pipe 50 does not hang at all times concentric with the casing, but it may be touching one side, thus being 05 center.

It has been found that this inserter is positive in operation, economical to make, centralizes the pipe automatically, allows easy changing of the blowout preventer for diflerent sizes of pipe, and can stand very rough handling without jamming.

It also is to be understood that this apparatus may be used for handling slips for gripping and holding the pipe, instead of a blowout preventer by merely substituting a set of slips for the insert 1.

Figs. 3 and '4 show a somewhat modified form of the invention which is substantially identical with the Fig. 1 showing, except in the mechanism used to move the blowout preventer. In

Fig. 3 this mechanism is shown as a cylinder 30 as which carries a piston 8| which in turn connects to a piston rod 82. The piston rod 82 is the same as the rack member I5 and supports the rod 3| .and the links 45 in a manner the same as-the rack member I5; i

In order to"cause movement of. the'shaft 32 within the cylinder so, the fluid pressure lines it 34 and 85 are provided. .The flow of fluid to these lines is controlled by a valve 36 which is L as a four-way valve, and serves to connect venter has moved over to engagement with the pipe and has dropped into the seat 6. One of the particular advantages of the present invention is that the packer or blowout preventer may be moved into position about the pipe very quickly, and when it is apparent that a blowout is imminent the valve 86 or the hand wheel 26 may be quickly operated to move the packer about the pipe. The driller can then drop the pipe so that a coupling will engage the top of the packer and the well will in this manner be sealed. With devices now in use it is necessary for one of the workmen to place the packer in position in the casing head and then the driller can lower the pipe so that a coupling will engage the packer. It often occurs that the workman is injured by the coupling dropping on his hand, or in some other manner. The operation of the present invention is positive and insures proper positioning of the packeror blowout preventer at all times.

Having described our invention, what we claim as new is:

1. An insert for well heads including an insert head composed of a plurality of hinged segments adapted to fit about a pipe, a rod supporting said segments, links connected to said segments, and means to which said rod and links are connected to move said insert head toward and away from the pipe. I

2. An insert for well heads including an insert head composed of a plurality of hinged segments adapted to fit about a pipe, a rod supporting said segments, links connected to said segments, and movable means to contact said segments with the pipe whereby said links will move said segments around the pipe.

3. An insert for well heads including an insert head composed of a plurality of hinged segments adapted to fit about a pipe, a rod supporting said segments, links connected to said segments, and means to which said rod and links are connected to move said insert head toward and away from the pipe, said rod being slidably mounted in saidmeans. I

4. An insert for well heads including an insert head composed of a plurality of hinged segments adapted to fit about a pipe, a rod supporting said segments, links connected to said segments, and means to which said rod and links are connected to move said insert head toward and away from the pipe, said rod being connected to two of said segments.

5. An insert for well heads including an insert head composed of a plurality of hinged segments adapted to fit about a pipe, a rod supporting said segments, links connected to said segments, and means to which said rod and links are connected to move said insert head toward and away from the pipe, said rod being slidably mounted in said means, said rod being connected to the adjacent sides of said segments and said links being connected to said segments so that shortening of said rod causes said links to move said segments together.

6. A closure for well heads including a packing head composed of segments, a rod upon which said segments are pivotally connected, means. to

slidably support and move said rod laterally of the well head, and additional means connecting said segments and said first means whereby sliding of said rod with respect to said first means causes pivoting of said segments.

7. In combination with a well casing, a casing head thereon, a ,pipe passing therethrough, a unitary well head insert mounted on said casing head, means connected to said insert to move said insert toward and away from said pipe, said means adapted to close said insert about said pipe when said insert comes in contact with said pipe, and means on said casing head to contact said insert to hold said insert in'locked relation with said casing head when said insert is positioned in said casing head.

8. An insert for well heads including an insert head composed of a plurality of hinged segments adapted to fit about a pipe, links connected to said segments, a rod connected to two of said segments, said rod being resiliently forced against said head connection to hold said insert head open. I

9. An insert for well heads including an insert head composed of a plurality of hinged segments adapted to fit about a pipe, means to force said" insert head laterally of said pipe, links pivotally connecting sides of said segments to said forcing means, resilient means between said links bearmeans including links connected to sides of said insert head, and resilient means for holding said insert open when in opengposition, and said mov- Y including links connected to sides of said insert head, and resilient means for holding said insert open when in open position, and said moving means including rack and pinion.

. 12. An insert for well heads including an insert head composed of a plurality of hinged segments adapted to fit about a pipe, means to move said insert from open position away from said pipe to closed position about said pipe, said means including links connected to sides of said insert head, and resilient means for holding said insert open when in open position, said moving means including a double acting cylinder, said cylinder being pivotally mounted.

13. An insert for well heads including an insert head composed of a plurality of hinged segments adapted to fit about a pipe, means to move said insert from open position away from said 7 I said insert open when in open position, said moving means I includinga double acting cylinder, said cylinder being pivotally mounted, and said moving means being pivotally mounted.

15. An insert for well heads including an insert head, a pipe, means to position said insert head about said pipe, said means being pivotally and arranged to elevate said positioning means.

16. An insert for wells including an insert head, a well casing, an inner pipe, pivoted extensible means for positioning said insert head about said inner pipe, means on said insert head to lock said head into the top of said well casing.

17. A well casing, a casing head thereon, a pipe I therethrough, a packing insert adapted toi'orm a seal between said casing head-and said pipeg means whereby said insert head may be moved from an open position away from said pipe to a closed position about said pipe, said means being disposed to counterbalance said head in open position.

18. An-insert for'wells including a WeILcasing, an inner pipe, an insert head composed of a plur'ality of segments adapted to fit about a pipe, means attached to the sides of said segments whereby said head may be moved toward and away from said pipe whereby said head serves as a support for said pipe when about the pipe and in said casing.

19.. A well casing, a

pipe passing therethrough, a packing insert adapted to form a seal between said casing head and said pipe, means whereby said packing insert may be moved from an open position away from said pipe to a closed position about said pipe, said means including a. pivot to lower said insert into said casing, and a releasable latch to hold said packing insert in sealing position. 20. A well cas n i a casing head thefeon,'an

' inner pipe, anlinsert head adapted to-fit about a, pipe and within said casing head, meansattached to said insert head to move said head to contact said pipe whereby said head will close about the pipe, and interengaging locking means on said heads to retain said insert head in closed position.

21. In combination with a well casing, a ca'sing head thereon, .a-pipe passing therethrough,

a well head insert associated with said casing head, means connected to said insert head, to move said insert head toward and away from said pipe, said means being adapted to close said insert about said pipe when said insert comes in contact with said pipe,and means on said casinghead engaged by said insert to hold said insert in fixed relation with said casing head when said insert is positioned in said casing head.

22. In combination with a well casing, a (asing head thereon, a pipe passing therethrough, an insert head adapted to seat in said casing head and around said pipe, said insert headcomcasing head thereon, a

m ssprising a plurality of tapered pipe engaging segments, and a support for said insert head having connectionsthereto adapted to move said insert head toward said pipe, one of said connecthus being yieldable and normally holding said insert head in an open position.

23. In combination with a well casing, a casing head thereon, a pip passing therethrough, an insert head adapted to seatinsaid casing head and around said pipe, said insert head comprising a plurality of packing elements, and an ex-' tensible support for said insert head having connections theieto adapted to move said insert head toward andawayfrom said pipe, one of said connections being yieldable and normally holdingsaid insert head in an open position.

24. In'combination with a well casing, a casing head thereon, a pipe passing therethrough, an insert head adapted to seat in said casing head and around said pipe, said insert head comprising a plurality of packing elements, and an extensible support for said insert head having connections thereto adapted to move said insert head toward nections acting to close said segments about said pipe when same is engaged.

25. In combination with a well casing, a casing head-thereon, a pipe passing therethrough, aninsert head adapted to seat-in said casing head and around said pipe, said insert headcomprising a plurality of packing elements, an extensible support for said insert head having connections thereto adapted to move said insert head toward and away from said .pipe, one of said connections being yieldable and normally holding said insert head in an open position, and means to secure said insert head in said casing head.

26. In combination with a well casing, a casing head thereon, a pipe passing therethrough, an insert head adapted to seat. in said'casing head and around said pipe, said insert head comprising a plurality of packing elements, and-an extensible. support-for said insert head having connections thereto adapted to move said insert head toward and away from said pipe, one of said connections being yieldable and normally hold otherof said connections acting to close said segments about said pipe when same is engaged, 1

James H. HOWARD; mom L. ma ma. 

